Holiday Rental property Registration System
The registration of tourist holiday rental accommodation by owners is compulsory in Andalucia. Whilst hotels and Apartamentos Turisticos have been regulated (and required registration) for many years, special regulations for 'Viviendas con fines turísticos' (houses rented out to tourists) (BOJA Decreto 28/2016) came into force February 2016. The registration is compulsory in most situation and is undertaken by home owners via the general 'Registro de Turismo de Andalucía' (RTA).
They stipulate that holiday rental accommodation must be registered with the regional government. The registration number takes the form VFT/GR/-0999 where the middle letters ar the two letter code for the province.
From the holiday renter's point of view an apartment or villa with registration number demonstrates that the owner is following the correct procedures. Whilst there is no specific additional protection in the event of a dispute the registration clearly demonstrates the purpose of the rental.
The Hotel industry have campaigned for holiday rental apartment to follow similar regulations to that of Hotels. On line holiday rental booking webites are also required to send reservation information to the tax authorities.
The regulation stipulate formally what property owners are obligated to provide for their guests.
Here is a list of the rules, some of which are more specific than others.
A property is defined as accommodating a maximum of 15 people, with up to four in each room. Access to tourist accommodation cannot be denied for reasons of birth, race, sex, religion, opinion, or other personal or social circumstance
Each property must offer the following:
Practical equipment:
- Sufficient equipment and furnishings for immediate use, according to how many people are being accommodated.
- Bedding, towels and household goods in general, as well as spare sets.
- Air-conditioning units in all bedrooms and communal lounge areas to provide cooling (if rented from May to September) and heating (October to April). Owners have one year to comply with this; properties are exempt when classified as "of Cultural Interest" and modifications and/or building work is prohibited.
- Fully-stocked medical kit.
- Direct external ventilation or via a patio and a window-shading system (darkening the windows either by blinds or curtains).
Support and information:
- Rules regarding use of facilities, whether pets are allowed, restrictions for smokers, and areas of the property where access is restricted.
- Instructions for electrical appliances.
- Information (either in paper or electronic form) about nearby shops, restaurants, parking, medical services, public transport.
- Official Complaints book and sign (on wall).
- A contact number to answer questions or issues regarding the property.
Additional points:
- Car parking facilities (if offered) should be within 300 metres of the property, otherwise the owner must provide free parking
- The property should be cleaned prior to the arrival, and after the departure of new customers
Booking
- All holidaymakers must present their identification document (passport or NIE) on arrival at the property. The homeowner must register this data with the national police. (This is legal requirement and has been undertaken by hotels for many years.)
- Arrival and departure times will be agreed by the homeowner and the renter, otherwise the arrival time will be at 16:00 and departure time at 12:00.
- The advertised price must be per night (no minimum stay) and must include water, electricity, cleaning and bedding.
This is a concise version - for the full law, see here.
Checking if a rental property is registered
The registration number takes the form:
VFT/GR/-0999
VFT indicates it is a registration under this law as opposed to AT which is a 'Apartment Turistico'. AT is closer an Apart Hotel.
The middle two letters are the two letter code for the province. See below.
The last part is the registration number.
In most cases if a property is registered the owners or managers proudly display it on promotional material. You can check this by searching on the Andalucia government Website. (in Spanish)
Where
Actividad - Select the item near the bottom of the dropdown list 'Vivienda con fines turisticos'
Province - Select Province in the dropdown
Municipio - Select municipality in the dropdown (town or village)
Buscar - Click search button
This is likely to return many pages of results. Either page through the results and when you find the property you want, click on the magnifying glass icon on the right to see more information about the property. Click on 'Filtro de Busqueda' at the top left to filter the results by 'Nombre / Demoninacion Comercial' (Property Name). Another option after the search is to export the list of all the properties in the town by clicking on 'Export to Excel' or 'Imprimir Listado' PDF at the top right of the search results.
Andalucian province alpha codes
- HU = Huelva
- SE = Seville
- CO = Cordoba
- J = Jaen
- CA = Cadiz
- MA = Malaga
- GR = Granada
- AL = Almeria